Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

flipp525 wrote
Yup. The only performance that deserved a nomination for that film was Isabella Rossellini's.

Your rationale makes sense, Sabin.

Thanks.

Interesting, the BAFTA's nominated Alicia Vikander as leading for The Danish Girl and supporting for Ex Machina. So, clearly they could have nominated Rooney Mara for whatever they wanted for Carol but ended up putting her up for supporting. I think Alicia Vikander would have had a much easier time getting two nominations than Rooney Mara one leading nomination. Just by nature of her more passive, muted role, I think it's possible that she would have been edged out by Charlotte Rampling.

Sabin wrote:

flipp525 wrote
It would be nice if Jennifer Lawrence wasn't awarded yet another default nomination (not having seen mother! yet, of course).

I'm guessing you're mostly referring to her nomination for Joy, right?

Yup. The only performance that deserved a nomination for that film was Isabella Rossellini's.

Your rationale makes sense, Sabin.

flipp525 wrote
It would be nice if Jennifer Lawrence wasn't awarded yet another default nomination (not having seen mother! yet, of course).

I'm guessing you're mostly referring to her nomination for Joy, right?

I think Jennifer Lawrence was largely beneficiary of category confusion with Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander. It's entirely possible that Laron, Blanchett, Rampling, Ronan, Vikander, and Mara all received more votes for Best Actress than Jennifer Lawrence for Joy, but as long as Vikander and Mara received more votes for Best Supporting Actress, then it doesn't matter. Had Alicia Vikander gone hard-line that her Danish Girl performance is lead and her Ex Machina performance is supporting, I think Vikander would have easily received two nomination that year and Jennifer Lawrence wouldn't have gotten in. I'm largely basing this on the amount of genuine enthusiasm for Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years from likely a smaller number of ballots and the lack of any real enthusiasm for Lawrence and Joy.

Precious Doll wrote:

Okri wrote:I'm curious to see if Cynthia Nixon garners any traction for A Quiet Passion. She strikes me as the type of actress that could parley the reviews she got into a critics citation or two.

I was in a semi-drowsy state when I saw Personal Shopper, which is not ideal...

Certainly at this stage I think we would see a Cynthia Nixon sweep of the major critics awards and even by years end she is likely to pick up one or two of the three. I don't think it will translate though to an Oscar nomination unless Music Box are prepared to push her.

She likely be one of the many who win New York, or LA or NSFC but not go any further. Such a shame because she really deserves a nomination/win.

With her recent Tony win and now these whisperings of a gubernatorial run for NY, Nixon might get a few more votes than previously considered. She's been in the Oscar conversation for the past couple years (James White, etc.) so I'm not counting her out just yet.

It would be nice if Jennifer Lawrence wasn't awarded yet another default nomination (not having seen mother! yet, of course).

Okri wrote:I'm curious to see if Cynthia Nixon garners any traction for A Quiet Passion. She strikes me as the type of actress that could parley the reviews she got into a critics citation or two.

I was in a semi-drowsy state when I saw Personal Shopper, which is not ideal...

Certainly at this stage I think we would see a Cynthia Nixon sweep of the major critics awards and even by years end she is likely to pick up one or two of the three. I don't think it will translate though to an Oscar nomination unless Music Box are prepared to push her.

She likely be one of the many who win New York, or LA or NSFC but not go any further. Such a shame because she really deserves a nomination/win.

Actually its only just occurred to me but one film that is also worth mentioning as a possible Oscar contender in the documentary category is Kedi.

It is I believe the 3rd highest grossing non-English documentary ever released in the U.S. and was something of a sleeper hit. A sizeable portion of the population love cats and whilst the voters for documentary category send to go for more 'serious' fare, this is the sort of film they could easily sneak it.

Because not only is it a love poem to street cats of Istanbul, it's also a love poem to Istanbul itself and all the people who feed and interact with these mysterious and beautiful animals.

I was lucky enough to see Kedi at last years Melbourne Film Festival and people could not get enough of it. So much so that the festival put on an additional screening. It's now opened commercially 'down under' and is building up wonderful word of mouth. People are going to it not only because of the cats but because of their love of Istanbul. Turkey is the one country in the world that I have never heard a single person have a bad word to say about visiting the country. Every people just adores it. I myself have not had that pleasure to date.

If Kedi can make it's way to the final five I think it has a good chance of even snagging the Oscar. It's such a feel-good lovely picture and cats do have a large fanbase and this is far more than just an extended YouTube video.

As for Call Me By Your Name, is was voted 2nd best film in the audience poll at the Sydney Film Festival (behind some Australian film that probably only snagged 1st place because it's cast, crew and all their friends voted it highly).

OscarGuy wrote:"A large number of us haven't seen it yet." That's what I said, Anonymous. Don't make it sound like I said "none of us" have seen it.

You said "none of us has attended those" film festivals. I pointed out Precious Doll attended the Sydney one. That's what I meant.

"A large number of us haven't seen it yet." That's what I said, Anonymous. Don't make it sound like I said "none of us" have seen it.

anonymous1980 wrote:As for Get Out, the early release date is probably an advantage due to its un-Oscary genre. It worked for The Silence of the Lambs and Mad Max: Fury Road.

To be honest, contrary to popular wisdom, early release dates should start being thought of as an advantage PERIOD. Although way more nominees come from year-end releases, that's simply because more award-level movies are released at that point in the year. But there's really not much evidence that an early release date hinders a movie that's going to be in the conversation.

Since the Best Picture expansion, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone, Up, and The Hurt Locker have all made it into Best Picture with release dates in the first half of the year, and I don't think any ONE of those looked like a certain nominee upon release. The closest would probably be The Hurt Locker, but its face plant at the box office left its chances slightly in doubt...particularly given that the expansion to ten wasn't even announced until weeks later. And some of them -- like Beasts or Tree of Life -- seemed WAY out there in art-house land. But what all these disparate films had in common was the fact that they got out of the gate early and won fans quickly, and those fans stuck with those movies through year's end, while word of mouth spread and allowed the films to win new fans as the year went on.

The question is...are there a ton of examples of movies that got Oscar buzz from early in the year that DIDN'T get a Best Picture nomination? The best case I could find in recent years would be Ex Machina. (You could stretch this, of course, to include movies like Deadpool, Star Trek, Bridesmaids, and The Hangover, which got major Globe/Guild attention, but in all seriousness, did you REALLY think any of those would get a Best Picture nomination when they came out?)

OscarGuy wrote: The reason none of us are talking about it is that a large number of us haven't seen it yet. It's played three festivals so far: Sundance, Berlinale, Sydney. None of us have attended those (well, I don't know about Sabin, but I didn't see him post about going to Sundance, so I doubt it). It doesn't open in the UK until October and the US until November.

Precious Doll was in Sydney and he has seen it and liked it.

As for Get Out, the early release date is probably an advantage due to its un-Oscary genre. It worked for The Silence of the Lambs and Mad Max: Fury Road.

I think something smart Universal could do would be to do a limited re-release of Get Out around awards season. It's truly been a phenomenon and it certainly has the status of 'event film' now - there are a lot of people who would happily watch it again in theatres, and this time bring their friends and family, plus many people that would just like to see it on a big screen with crowd reactions even if it's already out on home video formats. Not only is it an unexpected crossover success for its genre, but it's the first time a film that's opened so early in the year has remained a stalwart of awards discussion since I can remember.

ThePianist wrote
ARE WE JUST FORGETTING THIS FILM?!

No, because it's not out yet. The Original BJ was only talking about films in release from the first half that might play a factor later on this year.

ThePianist wrote: ARE WE JUST FORGETTING THIS FILM?!

Everybody knows the film is coming. BJ's post was specifically about films that have been released already in the US. If you look back at his last year's edition, you'll see Manchester by the sea wasn't included, although we all well knew how it had been received at Sundance. Same in 2014 with Boyhood and Whiplash.

No one's forgetting it. The high proportion of gay members on this board suggests it's bound to be a hit.

The reason none of us are talking about it is that a large number of us haven't seen it yet. It's played three festivals so far: Sundance, Berlinale, Sydney. None of us have attended those (well, I don't know about Sabin, but I didn't see him post about going to Sundance, so I doubt it). It doesn't open in the UK until October and the US until November.

THAT is the reason no one is talking about the film. In terms of Oscar contenders, all of us are talking about it being such, we just haven't seen it yet.

"Guadagnino's new film is also his sweetest, calmest, and loveliest. It sneaks up on you. Throughout, Guadagnino captures what first love feels like, in all its fumbling, awkward, confusing, terrifying, joyous glory." - Alex Heeney, Seventh Row

"Couldn't be more seductive, from the sumptuous sights of its scenic Italian setting to the summertime heat - and sizzling sentiments to match - that radiate from the screen." - Sarah Ward, Concrete Playground

"The bond between Elio and Oliver grows tentatively, but unleashes forceful emotions that reverberate through all the relationships in a film both hilarious and gorgeously sad, that crackles with sexual tension." - Carmen Gray, Dazed and Confused

"Stripped of the baggage that so often complicates and corrupts queer romance, Call Me by Your Name is allowed to flourish as an unfiltered evocation of the agony and ecstasy of first love." - Paul O'Callaghan, Sight and Sound

"Unforgettable on every level, the kind of film that has the power to move and inspire." - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com


ARE WE JUST FORGETTING THIS FILM?!